# What is implied in a guy being a "bear"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 24, 2007, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974 "2007-07-24T17:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/61 "2007-07-25T19:00:31Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Yes, this is what I understand by “bear.” I don’t think it denoted “gay” 20 years ago, but it does to me now. [/QUOTE] I think it’s safe to say that _bear_, used to describe a man, has gone down the same road as _gay_. For instance, all the Dopers who have _bear_ in their names, I assume are gay men. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/62 "2007-07-25T22:26:59Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] I think it’s safe to say that _bear_, used to describe a man, has gone down the same road as _gay_. [/QUOTE] To hell with the children! The Gays™ are trying to take our _vocabulary_! ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/63 "2007-07-25T22:55:45Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher] Given the reputation of our military, I suspect if the owner of the Jeep is not gay, that person is either protesting “don’t ask, don’t tell” or someone else put it there as a joke. 🙂 [/QUOTE] There are plenty of people who work at the pentagon who are contractors - my partner nearly got sent there for a few months. I’ve never met a soul, nor heard of one either, who had a rainbow sticker on their car who _wasn’t_ gay, or borrowing the car! “Bear” has meant hairy gay man around here for at least 15 years, if not more. (Bit of a problem when I call my partner “Bear” (a nickname she earned about 18 years ago!) in a gay environment. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/64 "2007-07-26T04:39:30Z")
**Gigi** , being a gay bear really isn’t as much a sexual thing as much as it is a social and cultural thing. [Gay bears](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_community) are a gay subculture. There is no need to feel uneasy about it. It sounds like the man is simply trying to bond a bit and wants you to get to know a little bit about him. As for the rest of you, I’m surprised the nobody has said “Woof” yet…lol. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/65 "2007-07-26T04:53:37Z")
**Gigi** , as others have mentioned being a bear has nothing to do with sexual roles. A bear can be a top or a bottom or both or neither, and your coworker has not revealed anything inappropiate to you. And a bear is not necessarily “butch,” either; I’ve known some very sweet, soft-spoken bears over the years. Also . . . I’ve been familiar with bear culture for a few decades now, and it always refers to gay men. A straight guy can be, physically, a bear, but AFAIK there’s no straight bear culture. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/66 "2007-07-26T05:21:07Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] I think it’s safe to say that _bear_, used to describe a man, has gone down the same road as _gay_. For instance, all the Dopers who have _bear_ in their names, I assume are gay men. [/QUOTE] FYI, **Bear\_Nenno** is not. He’s married to a lovely young woman. But I think the rest of them are. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/67 "2007-07-26T12:26:26Z")
[QUOTE=SiXSwordS] Da Bearths are going to go are the way this year! [/QUOTE] That’s hot. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/68 "2007-07-26T13:43:23Z")
[QUOTE=Hal Briston] Which, like others have said, is exactly the case. If you’ve got a rainbow sticker on your car, I’m going to assume you’re gay. [/QUOTE] Or at the very least, someone who wouldn’t be offended if you assumed they were gay. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/69 "2007-07-26T13:56:48Z")
[QUOTE=Tupug Anachi] I dunno… He only ever hung out with Boo Boo. 😉 [/QUOTE] Are you going to tell us that, “I want a pic-a-nic basket!”, is a reference to some sort of gay sex act? ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/70 "2007-07-26T14:11:08Z")
[QUOTE=FordPrefect] Are you going to tell us that, “I want a pic-a-nic basket!”, is a reference to some sort of gay sex act? [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t you be more surprised if we told you it _wasn’t_? ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/71 "2007-07-26T14:24:55Z")
🙂 I don’t think there is a phrase or word that a post-adolescent male can’t turn into a sexual phrase. It’s a skill we all share gay or straight. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/72 "2007-07-26T15:25:54Z")
[QUOTE=OneCentStamp] Yes, this is what I understand by “bear.” I don’t think it denoted “gay” 20 years ago, but it does to me now. [/QUOTE] 20 years ago, it denoted “cop”. Sometimes still does (IIRC, **Bear\_Nenno** is in law enforcement). ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/73 "2007-07-26T16:32:30Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] That’s hot. [/QUOTE] Wait 'til you hear my predictions for the Packerth/ Cowboyth game. The first quarter drive will be spec_tac_ular… and did someone say, cheesehead, oooo honey! In the end, I think they’ll cover the spread, but I hope they don’t. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974/74 "2007-07-26T16:50:03Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] My now-husband . . . was wearing a carved-stone necklace (done in the style of a Zuni fetish) of a bear. . . . [/quote] This is what I was thinking of, too (a Zuni bear). Bears are very common Native American totem animals. I think that in some areas of the country you would be way off base to assume any guy wearing a bear emblem (as clothing, jewelry, or tattoo) was necessarily gay. And as for bear claw emblems, they’re common as dirt in the town I went to university in, with its bear mascot, and many people there would not only disagree but take active offense at the idea that having those emblems on their cars amounts to some declaration regarding sexuality. So I think it’s a matter of context. “Bear” _does_ mean “big gay guy” in a certain context, but in many other contexts, it doesn’t. And I understand **gigi’s** minor issue with her coworker, who IMO was trying to act as if _his_ context was the universal one and as if **gigi** was prudish or stupid for not knowing that. A stylized bear on a coffee mug is not “a gay thing.” It’s a freaking coffee mug. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-implied-in-a-guy-being-a-bear/412974.md?page=3)